Tourmaline - skull from Brazil

The crystal skulls are from quartz or rock crystal faceted artwork in the shape of human skulls. This appeared in the second half of the nineteenth century and were originally assigned to various precolumbiaansebeschavingen. Research in the last decade of the twentieth century, among other things with the aid of a scanning tunneling microscope showed that in each case a number of these skulls are counterfeits. These are made with grinding tools which until the second half of the nineteenth century developed werden.Er is a strong presumption that produced some of the crystal skulls were commissioned by the French dealer Eugène Boban and sold by him. One of the most famous skulls is the Mitchell-Hedges skull. This would have been found by the British adventurer FA Mitchell-Hedges in a space under the ruins of Lubaantun in Belize. Later he appeared to have this skull bought privately in the London auction house Sotheby's. His wife gave as his reason that he gave the skull just as collateral to someone and it had repurchased through Sotheby's. After the death of Anna Mitchell-Hedges, the skull came into the possession of Bill Homann. In the nineties it became clear that the Mitchell-Hedges skull was a fake. In the meantime, the necessary hypes and legends formed around the crystal skulls. Their so-called site they'd centuries ago by the Mayans, the Aztecs or even 0udere precolumbiaansse civilization were manufactured. Would have these psychic abilities and would never right may look in the eyes. According to another legend, they would have an extraterrestrial origin. There would find thirteen of on earth. Once reunited, they would share their knowledge with humanity. Even now play the skulls still has a role in some of the New Age community.

In fiction:
• In the movie Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from 2008 all the above legends are combined.
• The hidden crystal, a book by Manda Scott, is about the crystal skulls and the 2012 phenomenon of the Maya.
• In the 21st episode of season 3 of the science fiction series Stargate SG-1 2000 (Crystal Skull) Daniel Jackson disappears when he looks into a crystal skull.

• The Assassin's Creed series refers to the skulls, where the ancient artifacts with mysterious powers.
Gemstone skulls. Gemstone skulls are already popular and mysterious to many cultures since many decades. The skulls have a very different meaning. Celtic skulls symbolize Time, Strength, creation, initiation and concentration. Celtic culture believes the skull is a seat of power and strength. Some texts refer to the cranium as the seat of the soul. Archaeological findings tell us that the ancient Celts skulls sacrificed to holy wells. The skull is universally recognized as the symbol of life and death. More recently, the skull linked to death and embracing our mortality. In ancient times, the skull was sometimes for life. Skulls and skeletons are the symbol for the Mexican holiday, the day of death. The skull and crossbones is a popular symbol for pirates and poison. Some healers use skulls to see visions of the past, present and future. including rose quartz, rock crystal, rhodonite, aventurine and hematite.

Tourmaline (quartz) is a group of minerals, all cyclo silicates. The minerals in this group share a characteristic chemical formula: AX3Y6 (BO3) 3 Si6O18 (O, OH, F) 4. The A may contain calcium or sodium. The X can consist of aluminum, iron, lithium or magnesium. The Y is typically aluminum, but may also be chromium or iron. At the position of A may be some potassium, manganese can be in X and vanadium can be found in Y, but these elements are not common in the formulas of the tourmaline group. Tourmaline is found in pegmatites, metamorfieten, magma tits and alluvial deposits. Although tourmaline was known already in antiquity in the Mediterranean, he was only in 1703 from Sri Lanka by the Dutch introduced in Western Europe. They named the new gem of a Sinhalese word "Turmali" which means "stone of mixed colors". If gemstones were used traditionally Rubel left - they were by artists like talisman, because they would increase creativity of artists. Tourmaline have certain unique properties. They are piezo-electric, which means that if a crystal is heated or compressed, different electric charges are formed at the both ends of the crystal. This creates an electrical potential. If an external electrical potential is carried out on the crystal, it vibrates. The minerals are pleochroïsch, which means that the crystal darker in color is viewed along the longest axis of the crystal, considering than perpendicular to that axis. The four best-known and most abundant tourmaline minerals have different colors and transparencies. ELBAITE is transparent and valuable gemstone. Schorl, which is rich in iron, is the most abundant mineral in the tourmaline group, and is black and opaque. It is mainly formed in pegmatites, the extreme slow cooling gangues of a magma. The other two tourmalines are regularly encountered draviet and uviet. Draviet is usually brown translucent and may be very large. Uviet green translucent to opaque. Tourmaline is found in the sands of Dutch Quaternary river sediments. Among others it is a characteristic component of Maas Zanden. In the heavy-mineral analysis as in the Netherlands at the Geological Survey during the second half of the twentieth century took place the mineral is classified in the so-called stable group.